Annual Technical Report 2013 on Patent Information Activities submitted by Poland (CWS/ATR/PI/2013/PL)
Where URLs are requested below, it is preferred that either URLs which are likely to remain stable over time (three years or more) are provided, or home (main) page URLs are provided with a short explanation of how to access the corresponding information.
The term "patent" covers utility models and Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs). Offices which issue design patents should report their design patent information activities in their Annual Technical Reports on Industrial Design Information Activities.
I. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN PATENT INFORMATION ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
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The Patent Office of the Republic of Poland aims at development of patent information activities within cooperation with PATLIB centres, European Patent Office, World Intellectual Property Organisation and the European Commission. Within the above mentioned cooperation the Office implements new services as well as adapts and improves the existing services and tools provided by national intellectual property offices.
Main polices and plans of the Office include among others activities aimed at supporting innovativeness of MSEs, commercialisation of intellectual property and development of entrepreneurship. Those activities are implemented by improving business skills in patent information usage, especially in creating strategies of enterprises, creating cooperation platform between business and scientific environment as well as platform for exchanging experience and knowledge.
In 2013 The Office continued implementation of EU Accessible Intellectual Property (IPorta) project within the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme. Completion of the project is planned in 2014. The main aim of IPorta is to establish a permanent network of national intellectual property offices, exchange best practices in supporting SMEs sector as well as implement various tools enhancing patent information knowledge and management of intellectual property.
New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies and plans mentioned above, short description: aims, partners, tasks
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Filings to the Office are increasingly more often preceded by searches in the electronic collections than in the paper holdings.
In 2013 a significant progress has been made in the number of electronic filings, both via e-forms for inventions and utility models in the Online Services Portal and in the eOLF system.
In 2013, the PPO received 4,331 patent applications under the national procedure, out of which 4,235 were filed by domestic applicants and 96 by foreign applicants.
80 applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty entered the phase of examination carried out by the Office (so-called national phase).
Under the international procedure, as the receiving Office, the PPO received from domestic applicants 218 patent applications under the PCT procedure and 159 European patent applications with the aim of seeking protection abroad.
The total number of patent applications filed in 2013 amounted to 4,411.
In 2013, the Office received from foreign applicants 46 applications for the grant of supplementary right of protection for medicinal products and plant protection products in order to protect rights under Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC).
On 31 December 2013, 47,610 patents remained in force, out of which 28,591 were European patents.
Other matters and useful links (URLs): annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc.
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In December 2013, IP Info Centre was created - new division within the PPO Receiving Department.
Current PPO information and support options include:
1) Via website: http://www.uprp.pl/przedmioty-wlasnosci-przemyslowej/Menu02,12,4,index,pl/ (all information about patents, trademarks, designs, etc. and instructions e.g. "How to patent an invention or utility model to protect? ")
2) via telephone: (+48 22 579 02 20, +48 22 579 01 53)
3) via e-mail: http://www.uprp.pl/Text01,205,161,1,index,pl,text/
4) in PPO (personally)
In the future the IP info project will be enlarged with two additional clients' communication options:
- live chat
- callback
The project will provide new possibilities of customer relations in our new IP Info Center, including implementation of the contact center and CRM systems.
Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
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In order to make entries on the legal status of exclusive rights protected on the territory of Poland, the following registers are held:
patent register, utility model register. Registers include information necessary to establish the subject and scope of protection (f. ex. date of filing, title), entity (or entities) entitled to rights concerning a given subject of protection (f. ex. holders, licensees, securities, seizure) and other useful information (f. ex. applications for revocation). Every person who submits relevant application and pays a fee to the account of the Office can obtain excerpts from the register.
Legal status information is also available in Register Plus at:
http://regserv.uprp.pl/register/regviewer
IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO PATENT INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
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Patent data are stored on the specialized, regularly updated internal databases, where image information and bibliographic details are held, for example:
- Soprano – system supporting the process of granting rights of protection for patents and utility models (national procedure, the SPC and the European patent validation procedure);
- databases supporting the process of publication of patents.
Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file: file building, updating, storage, documents from other offices included in the search file
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Patent documentation on paper carrier is stored in the Office storage rooms on movable bookshelves, in numerical and class arrangements, and are grouped separately according to respective countries. Class collection is stored in special files, adjusted to this type of collection. Numerical collection is stored in bound volumes. The storage rooms meet all the requirements for collection's safety. Polish patent documents arranged according to the patent classification symbols are available in the Office's general reading room.
Collection of patent documents on CD-ROM and DVD is stored on special bookshelves adjusted to this type of collection. It is available in the reading room also to external users.
The Office's reading room is also equipped with computer stations where PPO employees and external users can retrieve patent information from internet databases.
Polish Patent Office cooperates with 27 PATLIB information centres, most of them located within libraries of schools of higher education. The centres provide patent information and consultancy and employ patent attorneys. They also conduct free of charge seminars and trainings for those interested in patent information.
Patent Office supplies the centres with patent literature and informational materials on paper and electronic carriers for further dissemination.
In 2013, the Office sent:
- 75 discs with full text of patent documentation.
- 16 discs with patent literature.
Publications related to different business procedures and patent information sources available to users, for example, books, brochures, Internet publications, etc.
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The Patent Office of the Republic of Poland implements the machine translation project for patents in order to facilitate access to patent information for the users of the patent system. Within the framework of the project the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland has submitted to the European Patent Office 19,490 patent documents (European patents validated in Poland) with the aim to train the translation engine.
The PPO is now ready to start the next step of the co-operation project consisting in assessing the quality of sample translations by its patent examiners.
Cooperation with universities, research centers, technology and innovation support centers, etc.
The Patent Office collaborates with various institutions in the scope of promotion of knowledge on Intellectual Property (organisation of conferences, workshops, trainings, granting patronage of the PPO President over numerous initiatives etc.)
In 2013 the Office collaborated with the following entities, to name a few:
- collaboration with universities (Jagiellonian University in Krakow, University of Warsaw, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin, Lodz University of Technology, Kielce University of Technology, Warsaw University of Technology, Wrocław University of Technology, Krakow University of Technology, AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow etc.)
- collaboration with science and business related institutions, including: Polish Federation of Engineering Associations, Association of Polish Inventors and Rationalizers, Polish Union of Inventor and Rationalizer Associations, Polish Economic Chamber of Advanced Technologies, Lewiatan Confederation, Polish Patent Attorney Chamber;
Education and training: training courses, e-learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.
In 2013, the PPO participated in trainings and conferences organised by the European Patent Office (39 people). The events focused on issues, such as: EpoqueNet search, Patent searching for beginners - EPO Patent Information, Clarity and unity analysis of patent application during search, Classification Matters, Novelty and Inventive step, Computer implemented inventions: classification, search and examination practice, Inventions in the field of biotechnologies: classification, search and examination practice, Efficient dialog between patent examiners and patent attorneys, Classifying with the Cooperative Patent Classification, Patent documentation standards: tools for data exchange and system interoperability, The European Patent System from filing to grant, Patent valuation, How to understand EPO Search Reports and Written Opinions, The European patent system from filling to grant, Drafting of Search Reports, Written Opinions, Roundtable Discussion on Supplementary Protection Certificates, Patent information on climate change mitigation technology.
In 2013, within industrial property protection the PPO organised or participated in the following events:
- International Conference on World Intellectual Property Day "Intellectual Property in the Internet. How to use it without infringement. How to protect it without restricting" organised in Warsaw in cooperation with WIPO.
- 18th Conference "Patent Information for Science and Industry. Good practices and cooperation as a source of success" in Warsaw.
- 9th International Symposium "Intellectual Property in Innovative Economy. Launching innovations on the market: converting knowledge into profit" held in Krakow in cooperation inter alia with EPO and WIPO.
- Regional trainings on computer software protection.
- Training "Patent for Success - effective innovation protection".
- Trainings on industrial property protection for MSEs and business-related institutions.
- Specialised Seminar on intellectual property valuation.
- 32nd Seminar for Patent Attorneys of Schools of Higher Education in Cedzyna.
- Lectures and consultancy and advisory meetings within 16th Science Festival and open days of the Patent Office.
- Annual "Scientific Picnic" of the Bis Radio and Copernicus Science Centre in Warsaw.
- 9th Fairs of Industrial Technology, Science and Innovation "Technicon Innovations 2013" in Gdansk.
- Ceremony of prize award in the 11th edition of the competition for the best artistic poster as well as post-doctoral, doctoral, master's and student's theses on the subject of industrial property organized by the Patent Office.
In 2013 The PPO continued implementation of the project Internet Educational Platform which constitutes compendium of knowledge on intellectual property issues. The target group comprises enterprises (especially MSEs) business related institutions (including schools of higher education) and other entities.
- The Knowledge Zone will include information, publications and other materials addressed both to entities with advanced knowledge on IP issues and entrepreneurs looking for basic information on IP protection, procedures and management.
- Training Zone will comprise e-learning course divided into 10 modules on intellectual property protection. Each module will end with a test to verify the acquired knowledge.
Within systemic project, in 2013 the PPO organised a series of advisory-informational meetings with renowned experts in the field of intellectual property, which gathered in total 950 guests.
VI. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF PATENT INFORMATION
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VII. OTHER RELATED MATTERS
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| 1. | Classification is allotting one or more classification symbols (e.g., IPC symbols) to a patent application, either before or during search and examination, which symbols are then published with the patent application.
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| 2. | Preclassification is allotting an initial broad classification symbol (e.g., IPC class or subclass, or administrative unit) to a patent application, using human or automated means for internal administrative purposes (e.g., routing an application to the appropriate examiner). Usually preclassification is applied by the administration of an office.
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| 3. | Reclassification is the reconsideration and usually the replacement of one or more previously allotted classification symbols to a patent document, following a revision and the entry into force of a new version of the Classification system (e.g., the IPC). The new symbols are available on patent databases.
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